Rug and the process of making same.



F. B. FOSTER.

RUG AND THE PROCESS OF MAKING SAME. APPLICATION mm FEB. 1a. 1916.

Patented Dec; 11, 1912'.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' F. B. FOSTER.

RUG AND THE PROCESS OF MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED FEB 18. I916.

Patented Dec. 11, 1917.

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IINIHHIIHIWIWWIWI 1. EMMA] I lilil'i IlllllllllllllllllllllflNllilllllllllllllllllll mmm N TED STATES PATENT orrIoE.

FRANK FOSTER, OF HAVERFOBD, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOl-b TO THE CONGOLEUMCOMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec, 11, 1917,

Application filed February 18, 1916. Serial No. 79,167.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, FRANK B. Fos'rER, a' citizen of the United States,and a resident of Haverford, county of Montgomery, State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Bugs and theProcesses of "Making Same, of which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to manufacture a fioor'covering that canbe used as 'a rug which will lie flat upon the floor withall out the useof fastenin devices.

' A further object of the invention is to make the rugs from a longstrip of material which is printed and cut into sections, each sectionforming a complete rug.

A still further object of the invention is to lessen the cost ofmanufacturing rugs of this type without reducing the quality.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a rug made in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view of a strip of material showing a series of rugs rintedthereon;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the layers cut away and exaggeratedto 1llustrate different steps in the process of manu-* facturing therug; and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating one method .of printing therugs.

A typical example of carrying out my im proved process of manufacturingthe floor covering is as follows:

Referring to Fig. 3, I first make a body 5. of dry felt from cottonrags, or equivalent material. The felt, when formed, is of such aconsistency that it can be readily,

saturated. This felt is then saturated with a substance, as at 6, whichwill thoroughly impregnate it, making it proof against moisture andpliable so that the base of the finished product will expand andcontract with the surface coating and, consequently, will lie flat uponthe floor.

The substance I prefer to use is a semisolid bituminous material,preferably con- "sisting of fpetroleum flux oil and a residual pitch,pre rably derived from asphaltic or semi-asphaltic base oils, which isbrought to a temperature of about 500 degrees F. The material is thenplaced in. a saturating kettle of such a size as to allow the felt to bepassed through it, the material in the kettle being heated to about 325degrees F.

during the saturating process. The dry felt in passing through theliquid will becomethoroughly impregnated, making it pliable so that whenthe rug is finished and placed upon a floor it will lie flat.

While I have described the felt as preferably made from cotton rags, itwill be understood that it may be made of cotton waste or othermaterials having sufiicient strength and the capacity for taking up agiven amount of the semi-solid bituminous material.

'After the saturation the material is allowed to cool to a certaindegree but while still warm the surface of the felt, which is to formthe back of the rug, is coated with a composition, as at 7, preferablyconsisting of alcohol, shellac, or any other gum soluble in alcohol, anda pi ent. The alcohol is allowed to vaporize rom the coated surfacewhich is subjected to an air blast, which sets and dries the coating andseasons the felt. .As' soon as the back coating is dry and the felt isseasoned, then the face of which provides a suitable surface to receivethe printed design 11. After this last coating the material is allowedto dry, it being then in condition for printing.

The strips of material may vary in length depending considerably uponthe length 0 the drying chamber into which the material is carried afterbeing printed. The material is then passed through a block printingmachine of the character described and shown in Letters Patent No.1,145,821, granted to William I. Waldron on the \sixth day of July,1915, in which there is a series of printing blocks mounted on carriershaving an intermittent reciprocating motion to and from the material,and the material is intermittently moved through the machine,'the designbeing in the form of an appropriate rug pattern consisting of a centralbody portion and a border. The rug is printed in twoor more sections andmay be of as many colors as desired, depending considerably upon theparticular design.

I The material is fed through the printing machine in a long strip'andthe various portions of the rug pattern are successively printed upon itin appr priate pglors. When 110 30 stance, the blocks are intermittentlyoper- 50 tion of the material. Then sections 1 and 3 individual rugpatterns are being printed,

the patterns are printed both successively "and simultaneously, since,while one set of blocks is printing the border, or other por- 5 tions ofthe pattern, other sets of blocks are rug patterns are produced on thestrip of material in plurality form, as shown in Fig. 2., Rugs soprinted may be of any form and color desired and the colors may bemultiplied, depending considerably upon the particular design to beprinted.

After the printing operation is completed, the material is transferredto a suitable drier and after being dried it is cut into rugs, which areready for the market. surface coating and'the body portion of the felthave the same coeflicient of expansion, the rug will lie flat upon thefloor under all conditions and is not affected by atmospheric changes.

' In Fig. 4, I have illustrated in diagram one method of printing therug design in colors on a strip of material, such as described above. Inthe diagram three colors are represented-blue, red and yellow, and thereare three printing blocksL. C. and R.for each color. As the material isintermittently fed through a machine, for inated, but the movement ofthe blocks is controlled. so that certain blocks are held out of actionwhile others are printing. In the present instance, the block L is theleft hand border block which makes the impression on the section 1 ofthe strip of material. The block 0 is the center block arranged to makean impression on the sections 2 and 3, and R is the right hand borderblock arranged to make an impression on the section 4. As the materialprogresses through the machine, when a'machine i used, the sections 1and 3 are printed, strip 0;; then 2 and 3 are printed, stripb;completing the blue color printing of that particular portion of thematerial. Then sections 1 and 3 of the preceding portion are printed inred, strip a; then 2 and 4 are printed, strip (1; completing the redcolor printing on this porof the portion preceding the last mentionedportion are printed in yellow, strip 6; and then sections 2 and 4 areprinted in yellow, str p f; completing the design in three colors onthat particular portion of the material two rugs in advance of theportion receiving the first printing, strip a; and as the mat-erlal 1sintermittently moved after each impression the portion first mentionedrece1 ves the red colors when it reaches the 'po nt indicated in strips9 and h, the blocks belng held out of action until the left hand section1 is in line with the left hand block L, printing the red color. Afterthe red As the color is printed, these blocks are held out of actionwhile the material is being intermittently moved forward, strips '5, j,k and l; and when the section 1 is in line with the left hand yellowblock L, then the sections 1 and 3 are printed in yellow, strip m, thenon the next movement the sections 2 and 4 are printed in yellow, stripa.

While I have shown a given arrangement of the Col rs and the blocks,this arrangement may be varied without departing from the essentialfeatures of the invention.

Producing rugs in plurality form is of great advantage, since 1t enablesthem to be manufactured-in large numbers at a very low cost. It alsoenables the felt to be run through the various steps employed withoutloss of time and to be handled with a minimum of labor and with muchgreater precision than in the case where separate sheets are used foreach rug.

A rug made in accordance with this invention is moisture-proof and canbe used in damp places without disintegrating, as the bodyof the rug iswater-proof and the different. layers of surfacing materials resist thedeleterious action of moisture.

Furthermore, a rug of this character can be made of lighter materialthan heretofore, the body being substantial and the surface retainingthe printed coatings for a greater length of time than oilcloth, havinga pattern printed thereon. It is much cheaper than oilcloth in which awoven burlap is used as a base.

. I have not claimed the particular method of preparing the material forprinting, nor have I claimed any ofthe ingredients, nor the specificmanner of printing the design, as the first mentioned details are fullyset forth and claimed in an application for patent filed by GeorgePrifold on February 18, 1916, under Serial No. 79,168. The specificmanner of printing designs is set forth and claimed in an applicationfor patent filed by me on the twelfth day of April, 1917, under SerialNo. 161,524.

I claim:

1. As a new article of-manufacture, a material of the class describedcomprising a continuous strip of felt saturated with a substancewhichwill make the felt waterproof and pliable, said strip being coatedon its under side with a pa1nt com osition which is partially absorbedby the elt and on the opposite side with a paint composition forming awearing surface and having on said wearing surface a design formed bydepositing paint thereon, said surface being divided into a plurality ofpatterns, each having a complete border and each comprising a completerug design, the felt body portion and the upper surface having the samecoeflicient of expansion so that the material will lie flat upon thefloor.

till

llllll 2. A material of the character described, comprising a continuousstrip of dry felt having cotton fibers therein' saturated with asemi-solid bituminous material and having a thin coat of paint on itsunder side, which is partially absorbed by the felt and having on theopposite side a paint composition forming a wearing surface, said paintcomposition being much heavier than the coat at the back and having onsaid wearing surface a design formed by depositing paint thereon, saidsurface being divided into a plurality of patterns, each having acomplete border and each comprising a complete rug design, the felt bodyportion and the upper surface coating having the same coefiicient ofexpansion so that the material will lie flat upon the floor.

3. As a new article of manufacture, arug having a felt base saturatedwith a material that will make the base impervious to moisture and willallow it to retain its flexibility and having on its under side a thinpaint composition, which. is partially absorbed by the felt, and havingon its upper surface a much heavier paint composition forming a wearingsurface with a border design on. said wearing surface formed bydepositing. paint thereon, the felt base and the wearing surface havingthe same coefficient of expansion so that when the rug is placed on afloor it will die flat thereon.

4t. The process herein described of manufacturing a waterproof floorcovering, said process consisting in making a dry felt body, saturatingthe felt wlth a semi-solid bituminous material, then, while the materialis still warm, coating the back of the felt with a paint composition,which will be partially absorbed by the felt, then applying a pai tcoating to the upper surface of the felt to? provide a printing surface,then allowing this surface to dry and printing a bordered design on saidsurface, the felt base and the upper wearing surface havmg the same c0-efficient of expansion so that the rug, when placed upon a floor, willlie flat thereon.

5. The process herein described of manufacturing a waterproof floorcovering, said process consisting in making a dry felt having cottonfibers therein, saturating the felt with a semi-solid bituminousmaterial, which will make the felt waterproof and will allow itto'retain its flexibility, allowing the saturated felt to cool to acertain degree and, while still warm, applying a paint coating to theback thereof, said coating beingpartially absorbed by the felt, thenapplying two coats to the upper surface of the felt to provide a wearingsurface, then printing a design on said upper surface, the felt base andthe upper wearing surface having the same coefficient of expansion sothat when the material is placed upon a floor it will lie flat thereon.

6. The process herein described of making a floor covering in the formof a rugwhich will lie flat on the floor, said process consisting intaking a dry felt of cotton rags,

saturating the felt with a hot semi-solid bituminous material consistingof petroleum flux oil and residual pitch derived from asphaltic orsemi-asphaltic base oils, then, while the material is still hot,applying a thin paint coating to the under side of the felt, the feltabsorbing a portion vof the paint coating, allowing the coating to dry,then applying to the upper face of the felt body a paint coating,applying a second paint coating to provlde a suitable Wearing surface toreceive the printed design, then allowing the material'to dry, and thenprinting a rug design thereon, and finally drying the material, the feltbase and the upper wearing surface having the same coefiicientof'expansion so that the rugwill lie fiat upon a. floor under differentatmospheric changes.

FRANK 1B. FOSTER.

